Volume 5, Issue 3 - August 2005
Ask A Vet
by Matthew S. Johnston, VMD, DABVP – Avian
Colorado State University
What do you do about the occasional bout of "poopie butt"?
How well do rabbits really see? Do lops see worse--especially, French lops?
Q: What do you do about the occasional bout of "poopie butt"?
The term “poopie butt” has its origin in ancient Rome where young Roman children would say that their rabbit has “poopius butticus” to describe the accumulation of fecal material around their beloved pet rabbit’s hind end.
Seriously though, the occasional bout of fecal pasting around the perineum (i.e. “poopie butt”) is frustrating and difficult to deal with in pet rabbits. The condition can occur for several reasons, from primary gastrointestinal tract disorders to nutritional disorders to any problem that prevents the rabbits from properly grooming or ingesting their cecotrophs (night feces).
First, I will say that every rabbit with occasional bouts of this problem should be seen by a good rabbit veterinarian for a complete examination. The latter issues mentioned above are the easiest to deal with and include such common maladies as dental disease, obesity, and arthritis of the spine. Any of these can prevent a rabbit from properly grooming or ingesting their cecotrophs, which are usually eaten by the rabbit as soon as they exit the rectum. (This is what you see your rabbit doing when he/she appears to be licking his/her butt.) Dental disease can be managed but not cured (yet). Obesity can usually be adequately resolved via dietary corrections and exercise, though this should always be undertaken under the guidance of your rabbit’s veterinarian to prevent liver problems due to rapid weight loss. Arthritis cannot be cured but non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs can be prescribed by your veterinarian to help ease the discomfort associated with the arthritis.
Any primary gastrointestinal disease can lead to loose stools that can accumulate on the hind end of the rabbit. Your veterinarian can perform fecal tests, radiographs (x-rays), ultrasound, and other diagnostics to rule in or out some of these primary problems. Depending upon the diagnosis, some of these can be easily treated, while others may be difficult or impossible to fix.
In my experience, the most common reason for occasional and intermittent fecal pasting of the perineum is dietary in origin. It is also my experience that the majority of these patients tend to be high stress rabbits. Rabbits who have frequent diet changes or rabbits on inappropriate diets (high in carbohydrates, low in fiber, too high in fresh vegetables and fruits) are more prone to this problem. Once I have ruled out the causes listed above, I will usually transition these rabbits to a diet of strictly grass hay, with no supplementation of any kind. You must be aware that the condition usually gets worse before it gets better, but in the vast majority of cases, the bouts will clear up when the rabbit is on a strict hay diet. Once we get to this point, we can work to gradually reintroduce certain food items one at a time to see if we can find the threshold for what that particular rabbit can tolerate. This requires close contact and frequent communication with your veterinarian.
Q: How well do rabbits really see? Do lops see worse--especially, French lops?
Rabbits are adapted as prey species, and as such, they have well developed special senses (i.e. hearing, vision, smell). Rabbit’s eyes are placed on the sides of their heads to allow them to see in a complete 360° circle around them at all times. In fact, each rabbit eye has a field of view of 190°, which means that they have approximately 20° of binocular (both eyes, three dimensional) vision directly in front of them.
They have a high concentration of special cells, called rods, in their retinas that allow them to have excellent night vision. It is probable that rabbits do not recognize color as well as some other mammals based on the relatively limited numbers of cone cells (cells in the retina which allow for color vision) in their eye.
Lop-eared rabbits do not theoretically see any differently than other rabbits; however, because their ears flop down around the sides of their face, the ears act as a direct barrier to that 360° field of vision, especially the field directly behind them. This has lead to the assumption that lop-eared rabbits don’t see as well. As for French lops being even worse, I personally think that Frenchies just don’t care what is around them unless it is something they like to eat . . . so they are “selectively sighted”!
Editor's Note: If you would like to submit a question to Ask A Vet, send your question to Kay@coloradohrs.com or call 303-770-5212.
